Restitching
by Piratefish
Summary: Exactly thirty days since it was last touched, a seal breaks, and out of a box something slips out. Something made of pitch-black tendrils, and covered in a bone-white mask. Why did they always assume he was limited to five hearts?
1. Awakening

**Summary: **Exactly thirty days since it was last touched, a seal breaks, and out of a box something slips out. Something made of pitch-black tendrils, and covered in a bone-white mask. Why did they always assume he was limited to five hearts?

* * *

Aaahh… It was nice to be free again. The feeling would soon pass, of course, but Kakuzu allowed himself to glory in it for as long as it took for his vision to clear. Except the term "vision" was misleading. He had no eyes. Just a heart, and a mask, and what could only very loosely be described as a body. How, exactly, had he been reduced to this?

The memories surfaced sluggishly, as they were wont to do when the body he currently inhabited wasn't the source of said recollections. So, he and Hidan were fighting the Copy-Nin, a very resourceful Nara, and the latter's liability of a team. The Nara led Hidan off somewhere, and just when he was about to destroy the rest of them, reinforcements had arrived. Including the Ninth Target, who had unleashed a devastating attack of some sort.

It hadn't actually killed him, but had left his chakra system, and the rest of him, so completely devastated that he'd been easy pickings. The damage was probably irreversible, which was unfortunate. Not for him, however, as much as for whichever poor fool was currently inhabiting his future body.

Kakuzu aligned his "face" toward the closest major settlement, and crept quickly forward. His failsafe was in Wave Country at the moment, which meant that there was hopefully no ninja presence. He could move just about as fast as this construct was capable of, and so he did.

It did not take long to reach his destination. A fairly busy, fairly prosperous village in a fairly nice location, it was hard not to immediately categorize the place as average. Some interesting details detracted from that point of view, though. The people were mostly well-off, that was plain, but some were faintly gaunt, as though having experienced starvation not too long ago. These unanimously sported wary expressions when they thought no-one was watching, as though sure their newfound happiness could not last for long. Interesting.

Of course, had the ancient nin bothered to learn the least bit of information about his last hearts hiding place, he would have not have been surprised. But Kakuzu honestly didn't care about the situation of the world in general as long as there were bounties to collect. And War only made things easier for him.

Now, to find a fitting vessel.

A child would be best. The opportunity to maximise the body's development, both physically and spiritually, would more than pay off in the years to come. A ninja wouldn't be nearly as hard to whip into shape, but carried the risk that his original heart could be damaged in the takeover. Something which had to be avoided at all costs. Perhaps a closer look would help him decide on his future body?

Shifting his form into a rough facsimile of that blonde brat who had the temerity to defeat him, Kakuzu then applied a henge, for a near-identical appearance, if slightly less ridiculously clothed. The now blond shinobi wandered into the village, an idiotic grin on his face.

Kakuzu waved at random passers-by, just to get into character. People seemed entirely too happy to see a strange foreign ninja greeting them. Perhaps the Ninth was known in the village? Not impossible, but highly unlikely. In any case-

"NARUTO-NII-CHAN!"

This had to be a goddamned joke.

A small, brown-haired figure latched on to him, not noticing the inhuman lurching of the tendrils in his grip from the impact.

"Oi, kid, geddoff."

The kid disentangled himself and pointed at him wildly, speaking in a reproachful tone:

"Don't be so mean, Naruto-nii-chan!"

Kakuzu examined the newcomer carefully before speaking.

"You've grown, kiddo."

The kid smiled in time with the Taki nin's own genuine grin.

This one would do nicely.


	2. Takeover

Restitching Chapter 2 – Takeover.

* * *

The boy proved to be easy to lead away from the rest of the village. The mere mention of some sort of "important secret" had him practically sprinting from safety. Well. Safety was a relative term, in this instance. It wasn't like them staying in the village would change anything other than the amount of witnesses the Taki-nin had to clean up afterwards.

The boy was clamoring for his attention. Shouldn't space off like that. Could get him killed. Well, not in these circumstances, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Naruto_naruto_naruto_naruto-"_

"Heh, sorry." Affecting an apologetic grin, Kakuzu continued, "Was just thinking how best to put this. It's an important lesson, after all. I suppose one way to put it would be ne**ver TRUST A NINJA.**"

The henge was dropped mid-sentence, and a construct that was never meant to speak in human terms managed to grind out the words. The effect was deliciously eerie. It had taken quite some time to perfect.

The boy jumped backwards, nearly losing his balance, righted himself, and continued backpedaling, all without taking his eyes off Kakuzu. It was moderately impressive, in actual fact. How old was the boy? Eleven?

"You're not Naruto."

"**IF YOU EVER THOUGHT I WAS, YOU DIDN'T KNOW HIM VERY WELL.**"

"I can't outrun you, can I?"

Not able to resist some intimidation, the less human of the two flickered behind his prey and spoke softly.

"**Would I TELL you, if you could?**"

The boy turned, rapidly, but in his gaze there was a curiously small amount of fear. Then he _charged._

"THEN THE ONLY WAY IS FORWARD!"

The kid threw a punch. If any of his actions had been the merest shade faster than a civilian could achieve, he would already be dead. Truth be told, Kakuzu was moderately curious about his future host. What in the world could have inspired such a mindset?

The punch had no effect. The strongest civilian in the world would not have had one. Human flesh was so frail. The oldest ninja alive had long since decided to be anything but.

But the kid would not stop punching.

"**IS THIS HOW YOU WOULD SPEND THE REST OF YOUR TIME?**"

The kid abruptly sat down.

"Kill me then."

"**WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WILL LET YOU DIE?"**

The boy's eyes were truly fearful for the first time.

"What do you-?"

But the time for play was over.

The arms were restrained, and the was mouth forced shut. One razor tendril was coated in wind-chakra, and commenced its task with practiced efficiency. This was not the first, nor the fiftieth such attempt. The boy would have been struggling wildly, would have been screaming his lungs out, had there been any room for him to do so.

And the heart was laid bare.

Delicately, delicately, Kakuzu went about the process of taking control. He could not interfere too much, or the development would be stunted. The heart itself could be safely saturated. It was, in essence, a muscle, and would only be enhanced by the Jiongu. And so Kakuzu tasted the boy's elements.

Water would be natural, out here among the waves, but no. Merely a background trace, just a shade stronger than the average population. Fire, then? He was certainly spirited. A mere moment was wasted checking this possibility. There was no fire in the boy. Disappointing. Perhaps he would have to replace the original? What a waste; bodies never worked as well with only surrogates. Kakuzu wondered, absent-mindedly feeling for lightning, wind, earth…

Oh. How remarkable. The boy had flesh of earth and stone and bones of granite, maybe even diamond. Such an affinity! This intensity was how he had imagined that bastard Copy-nin would taste like, though of course not with such an earthy tang! It would be only weeks-

There would be time enough for wondering later. The process was near complete.

The treads were in every muscle, mere anchors for future growth to exploit. Now for the crucial part. Now for the spine…

Crawling up and up and taking con-

The boy was fighting it. Unsurprising, really, stone held fast 'til it shattered. Still, it would not do to start off with a broken mind. The boy was young and headstrong, but the former Akatsuki member was old and experienced. It took longer than many before, but soon enough he had control.

Kakuzu stiffly rose, and noticed…

The boy had taken some memories with him. Those that remained were a patchwork, not nearly enough to convincingly pass himself off as the one he now controlled.

Damn.

He ordered his oldest heart back to its container, and drove his head into a tree.


	3. New Lodgings

Seiji was a decent man, and right now he had a mission. Having just returned from the sea for his customary hearty lunch, he had noticed the dazed state of Tazuna's grandson right away. Boy seemed not to even recognize him, when he went for a closer look! You could never be sure of the damage with head injuries, until maybe after a week? Or was it a month? Not more than that, surely. Then again, he was no med-nin…

In any case, the boy was in no state to make his own way home, as proved by his curious and slightly glazed glances everywhere! As if he'd never seen the place before!

And there was the house; some five minutes' walk (ten if dragging a dazed child) from the village proper. Solidly built, it was, as was only fitting for the house of an architect. And a savior of the nation, no less! And home to the finest woman (and third-greatest cook, Seiji had quite a detailed list in his head on that score) in the village! She'd surely be grateful; it wasn't every day that a son was left wandering, injured, on the streets of the village. Well, street. In any case, a good deed done was one which may one day return to him, and if it gave him the gratitude of the lovely daughter of the house, well, so much the better.

Lost in his own thoughts, the solidly built fisherman didn't notice Inari's gaze suddenly growing intent as the house came into view, before it faded into a gaze only slightly more aware than it had been.

"TAZUNA! TSUNAMI!" When pushed, Seiji's voice was not only loud (as he normally was) but positively booming. An answer came immediately, in a much lighter tone.

"Seiji-san! What are you- INARI! What happened to you?"

Taking off his hat, the fisherman fumbled a bit with it while answering: "Found 'im wandering the village in a bit of a daze. Thought it best to bring 'im home, given the state of 'im."

"Yes, good, thank you! Inari, come in! What happened to you? You're bleeding!"

The door slammed shut. Seiji waited a moment, to see if they remembered his presence.

Apparently not. Sighing slightly to himself, he trudged off. There would be other chances. And it wasn't like she was the best cook out of all of them. In fact-

* * *

Kakuzu was being engulfed in hugs and kisses. Unsure of how he was supposed to react, he just stood and accepted the torrent of affection. This did not seem the correct cause of action.

"Inari, what's wrong?" She spoke with the unthinking softness of a concerned parent, a world as far removed from Kakuzu's own as the moon and stars.

"I… Met a ninja, today, mom." He made himself hesitate, waver as if unsure. Blunt directness was not what was required if he wanted free accommodations and meals. As well as some measure of protection from the outside world, and this might well continue to be an offer _well _into the future with no effort _at all _on his part. _Why _had he not done this before.

"Inari? Inari, I asked you a question. I heard something about Naruto..?"

"He wasn't Naruto." His childish voice sounded betrayed and angry, and just a little frightened still.

"Inari, what-?"

"Ninja can _change_ themselves, mom, remember? This one looked like Naruto, so I followed him out of the village, and asked him about stuff. He taught me a _thing,_ and seemed surprised when I actually picked it up. And then the other ones showed up."

Tsunami seemed overwhelmed and horrified, as well she might had she known the true story of her son. And how it ended.

"Other ones?"

"Yes. They attacked him, and he changed _back_. And they told me he abducts _children, _and one of them shoved me into a tree-" He pointed to his bruised forehead, "to protect me from one of his spikes. They wore masks, with symbols like _this." _Kakuzu etched the symbol of the Mist Village into the empty air.

Tsunami was growing tearful, fright and relief warring for control of her features.

"I'll show you what he taught me." Weaving his hands into the slow seals for the Doryuuheki, Kakuzu channeled a safe amount of chakra into the technique.

And the ground shook, and the floorboards under his feet splintered. His ensuing tumble was not, _entirely_, feigned. This body had _such _potential. Did she not even realized that he had just demonstrated ability beyond the _greatest_ of prodigies?

"Inari!" The boy's mother crouched down into a lengthy, tearful hug. It was clear she expected him to respond in kind.

Kakuzu wasn't _that _good of an actor.

* * *

Tsunami was horrified, relieved, impressed. But above all, she was scared. The little frame she gently held was not shaking as her own was. Something _more _was wrong! She pulled back, her eyes meeting the identical ones of her son.

And saw the fierce determination in them. No tears, no fear, no weakness. This was Inari as he looked when he gathered his village, Inari as the _man_ he would one day become.

"I want to go to Konoha."

And when he was like this, nothing could stop him.

* * *

Though, that whole scene was a _masterful _performance, if he _did_ say so himself.


End file.
